(1) Field of the Invention
This invention relates to dining, and more particularly to dining with children in restaurants. A restaurant manager is one having ordinary skill in this art.
(2) Description of the Related Art
A problem exists with children dining at a table with adults, and particularly for children dining in restaurants. It is desirable to provide a child with a suitable seat that the child will sit in without complaining by crying or fussing.
Traditionally, this problem has been solved by providing the child with a highchair which is a self-contained eating place. Highchairs have a raised seat with a folding tray that is slightly higher than the table top. The child can be placed in the highchair, the tray folded down, and the child pulled near the dining table. The tray is above table top height so that the child's tray overlaps the top of the dining table. In other instances, the tray can be left folded away from in front of the child and the child's food placed upon the dining table in front of him.
Another solution is to provide a small seat which rests in an adult chair. The child can sit in the small seat in the adult chair at a comfortable height in front of the table with the food on the table in front of him.
Restaurant managers are accustomed to having children rebel at such arrangements, fussing and crying, and either standing in adult chairs or sitting in the laps of adults or moving around the restaurant. All such conduct is disruptive to the otherwise pleasant surroundings of the restaurant.
At playgrounds and amusement parks, children readily and eagerly will sit in certain rides. I.e., on carousels children are eager to sit on saddles. They are also eager to sit on replicas of animals, automobiles, motorcycles and the like.
In this application, the word "replica" is restricted to meaning a replica of childhood fantasy such as a saddle, boat, automobile, motorcycle, swan, alligator, longhorn steer, horse, or other animal.